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mare for the abigail and led the horses to be properly saddled.
    An altercation in the stable, caught Caroline's attention. An unfamiliar male voice was raised in argument with the old ostler Caroline had met on her first visit to the stable.
    After a moment, Geoffrey emerged, seeming unruffled.
    She frowned. "Pray, tell me, what that was all about."
    Geoffrey held her mount and lifted her into the saddle. Caroline felt her skin tingle at his touch. He had lifted her without effort, as though she were tiny as a child.
    Then, peering up to answer, he said, "Mr. Humphrey has employed another groom. He felt we were understaffed even with my arrival. I think he would like to rebuild the stable to its former grandeur should he ever be lord here."
    "But the argument?" Caroline persisted.
    "The new groom wished to accompany you. However, as we had already settled that arrangement, it required our boss to set things straight."
    "I see."
    Caroline felt flattered to be the object of interest, even if the two men were below her supposed status.
    She held her head high as Geoffrey mounted Victory and, followed by the abigail, they began a sedate walk down the shaded dirt path to the grassland beyond.
    When they reached the gently rolling land, Geoffrey turned to say, "I believe we might safely increase your pace to a canter, if you like, Miss. Old Beauty there has a gentle gait."
    Caroline laughed. "Beauty, is it? Well, perhaps in her youth."
    The fresh air had a relaxing effect, unlike the mounting excitement which permeated the house. She studied Geoffrey under her lashes as he rode along beside her. His speech was proper for that of a groom. He had obviously not gone without education.
    "I shall trust you to set the pace," she directed.
    Geoffrey urged Victory into a gentle canter. Caroline kept pace while the abigail trotted behind.
    Here was a man whom she might have enjoyed keeping company had she come here as a servant. How ironic that, because of her own lie, she would never know if the attraction she felt was genuine. How many fine men might there be who were now below her station?
    Her musings were cut short when a loud report tore the peaceful glen. Caroline felt Beauty give a violent lurch before breaking into a terrified run. With no time to consider what had gone wrong, Caroline spent her energy trying to hang onto the frightened creature.
    Hooves pounded behind her and she knew, without looking that Geoffrey was in hot pursuit. Even in her terror, she felt an unreasoning assurance that he would be able to save her and stop the run away mare.
    She could see him beside her. He reached for her reins just as her horse stumbled. The lurch sent Caroline out of the saddle to tumble onto a grassy knoll.
    The reassuring thought that he would still save her was her last memory before she felt the wind knocked from her body and a temporary darkness block all consciousness.
    Geoffrey pulled the frightened horses to a halt and sprang from his saddle. Caroline lay crumpled on the ground. He rolled her over gently, his heart in his throat at the sight of her pale face. Her lashes fell in a dark fan on her ivory cheeks.
    At that moment, though he had known her only a short time, Geoffrey knew without a doubt that he truly admired her. For the first time, he had found a woman who honestly intrigued him. It seemed a cruel twist of fate that she might be stolen from him just as he recognized how much he wished to know her better.
    Above the lace of her habit shirt, he spied the faint pulse that still beat in her slender neck. She roused, opening her eyes, and he knew he had been holding his breath. She stared at him vacantly, then struggled to sit up.
    "Not too fast," he cautioned. "You took a nasty fall."
    He placed an arm behind her slender back and cradled her against his chest. "Are you in pain?"
    She lay against him, trying to regain her sense of balance that had been jolted in the fall. He knew, like a common cad, he was taking